Wait... They chose to have a bunch of reincarnated characters, and they repeat a bunch of the same actors / actresses... but those repeating actors don't match up with the reincarnated characters?
Yeah, that sounds needlessly confusing. Why have Tom Hanks play multiple characters, if the characters aren't linked?
That's what I'm saying. And that's why I think people are going to be confused. You may be able to find connections between the characters, but I don't believe it's relevant. For example... Hugo Weaving plays multiple characters with the same kind of motive.
But yes... if you assume every character Tom Hanks plays is a reincarnation of another Tom hanks character, you're going to confuse the crap out of yourself. The "main" characters (an American notary in the 1800s, a young musician in the 1930s, a journalist in the 1970s, etc) are intended to be "reincarnations" of one another and they are all played by different actors. 1800s Notary = Jim Sturgess. 1930s Musician = Ben Whishaw ... 1970s Journalist = Halle Berry.
What's confusing is that in each of the stories, you'll see Halle Berry. She's a slave woman in one. She's a white jewish woman in another, etc... But it's not relevant.